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For what it's worth, that's not right. I'm not going to defend the university presidents, because they did a shitty job, but if you want to understand why they said what they said and what the free speech policies actually are, read Popehat (Ken White) ("Stop Demanding Dumb Answers To Hard Questions") on this. You and he come from a very, very similar place on First Amendment issues, and I think you will be sympathetic to his point of view.
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I agree that it was an obvious trap and am amazed they fell into it. Also agree that the desire to answer complex questions in soundbites, and the Torquemada act Stefanik used to force yes or no answers to hypotheticals she then characterized as she wanted after the fact, are unfortunately deplorable elements of modern discourse in this polarized shitshow of a country.
She was an embarrassment.
But I think there was an incredibly elegant answer to her questions which would have shut her down. "Our policy on free speech is as broad as possible, but as an institution we thoroughly investigate any speech advocating violence against any groups. If it is deemed a credible or imminent threat, it is against our policies. We do this to balance safety and the first amendment."
If that's too long, one can take the Joseph Welch vs. McCarthy route: "I'm not here to engage hypotheticals or strawmen. I'm here to be asked about facts. That's why I'm under oath."
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The Presidents fell flat because they they had been prepped by lawyers and HR people and had nothing beyond that to say. If you want to sound like a University President, the answer to that question is, we are running a university here and genocide is wrong. I will let the university's lawyers decide whether a specific act violates a specific policy, but the point of a university is to answer ideas with other ideas to get to the truth, and that is my focus as the university's leader.
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Yup. That's another way to do it.
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But none of them were hired to answer yes or no questions from Rep. Stefanik, alas.
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When put in that spot, I think you have to use the "I'm going to refrain from commenting on hypotheticals" and repeat it as many times as needed. The only way to stanch badgering is to refuse to feed it words. Run out the clock.
